March 2, 2025 • 40 mins
Company: Tributary Design Studio
Owner(s): Marielle Balogh
Year Started: 2017
Employees: 1 – 10
Branding isn’t just about looks, it’s about trust, credibility, and making your business stand out. In this episode, Marielle Balogh, Founder of Tributary Design Studio, discusses branding and the tough challenge to stand out to your best customers.
Inside this episode:
- Why a broad range of experiences can strengthen your brand approach
- Why your agency should meet customers where they are
- The innovation needed for growing beyond referrals
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to An Agency Storypodcast where we share real
stories of marketing agencyowners from around the world.
From the excitement of startingup the first big sale, passion,
doubt, fear, freedom, and theemotional rollercoaster of
growth, hear it all on An AgencyStory podcast.
(00:24):
An Agency Story podcast ishosted by Russel Dubree,
successful agency owner with aneight figure exit turned
business coach.
Enjoy the next agency story.
Russel (00:41):
Most businesses, including agencies, think of
branding as a nice to have.
A logo, a decent website, and apolished look.
But in reality, branding is thesilent force that shapes trust,
credibility, and how yourbusiness stands out in a crowded
market.
And in today's world whereattention is fleeting, getting
it right is more critical thanever.
(01:02):
Welcome to An Agency Storypodcast, I'm your host, Russel.
Today's guest is Mario Balogh,founder of Tributary Design
Studio based in Portland,Oregon.
In this episode, we unpack whybranding is more than just
aesthetics.
It's about building trust atfirst glance and shaping the way
your audience perceives value.
We also dive into the hard workof innovation, rethinking how
(01:23):
businesses meet customers wherethey are and how agencies can
break beyond referrals toattract and engage clients in an
ever changing landscape.
If you're ready to take a freshlook at your brand and what it
says about you, you won't wantto miss this conversation.
Enjoy the story.
Welcome to the show today,everyone.
I have Marielle Balogh withTributary Design Studio with us
(01:43):
here today.
Thank you so much for being onthe show today, Marielle.
Marielle (01:46):
Thank you for having me.
It's lovely to be here.
Russel (01:48):
Lovely to have you, and I got the name right, correct?
How did I do?
Marielle (01:52):
You did.
You pronounced my nameaccurately.
I know it's a tricky one.
It's very European so Iunderstand why you trip up.
Russel (01:58):
I am one to do that so I'm going to give myself like a
9.
5 just cause you can't beperfect.
Marielle (02:02):
It'd be a 10 if you could roll your French Rs, then
I would give you a 10.
Russel (02:06):
I did take a lot of French though.
Marielle (02:07):
Oh, maybe you could.
Russel (02:08):
It's not podcast show worthy.
For, um, pride sake maybe.
Excited to have you on here.
We're in the winter season hereand we were just talking a
little bit before and it seemslike a fun conversation to start
is all things skiing.
Sounds like we both have a skitrip coming up and you're going
to, where, where are you goingskiing?
Marielle (02:23):
Mount Hood Meadows in near Portland, Oregon, where I
live.
I just bought a skii season passmy first time ever this year.
Excited by that.
I hope it's going to be a goodyear.
Russel (02:33):
How many times do you need to go to feel good about
this?
Marielle (02:36):
I feel like 10 at least because lift tickets are
crazy expensive these days.
Russel (02:40):
Okay, 10 times.
I feel ya.
I'm going to Vail next week andtaking my brother who's going
for the first time so that'll beinteresting for him, and then
we'll see if my son gets mekilled by trying to do all the
crazy black runs and and allthat stuff.
Marielle (02:55):
I bet you'll keep up just fine.
Russel (02:56):
I was like, dude, you got, you got about two out of me
and then we're back to theeasier stuff.
Or if you want to be done in twohours and then call it a day,
that's fine too.
Marielle (03:03):
Just go to the resort and have hot cocoa.
Russel (03:05):
Yes, I'm continually learning and getting more into
the apres ski life.
I did not understand itinitially, but now I do.
Marielle (03:11):
Yes.
Russel (03:11):
I'm excited for you, excited for you to get your 10
ski runs in today, and thenexcited for my potential
survival.
Let's get right to the, whatdoes Tributary Design Studio do
and who do you do it for?
Marielle (03:22):
Tributary Design Studio is really founded on the
premise of servicing smallerbusinesses and helping them grow
into much larger businesses, ifthat's their goal, or to just
support them and meet them wherethey're at and where they want
to go, which is, you know,tributaries.
The meaning of a tributary is asmall stream or river going into
a larger stream or river.
Named the business that becauseit's just a really wonderful
(03:44):
metaphor for the work we do withour clients when they really
invest in branding and designlong term, in tandem with other
marketing efforts andinitiatives.
It just really empowers them toput their best foot forward and,
um, speak to who they want to bespeaking to and be communicating
the right message visually iswhat we've predominantly focused
on.
Russel (04:02):
I love a good meaningful name.
That's awesome.
Tell a lot of thought went intothat and unique into itself.
Marielle (04:08):
In Oregon, there's a lot of tributaries, so it gives
a sense of place.
Even though we're not onlyworking with Oregon businesses,
it's a really nice, um, tie into our headquarters,
essentially.
Russel (04:17):
Even more meaning.
There we go.
I'm always a big fan of anybodythat helps out the small
businesses of the world.
That's a, is a very near anddear passion of mine.
All right, well, we were alreadyoff to a great start here.
Before we get all this agencystuff, uh, I'd love to hear what
was young Marielle doing withher life, where was she headed,
and we'll see how well thatcompares to where you're at
today.
Marielle (04:37):
I definitely have a winding road path.
I don't have, like, a superlinear career history, uh, which
I used to be very embarrassedabout when I started my agency.
But, um, over time I've reallystarted to see it as my strength
because I, I'm able to see abusiness from like a lot of
perspectives as opposed to just,um, having gotten like a degree
(04:57):
in graphic design or somethingand just having always done
that.
There's a lot of value in that,but there's also value in
somebody who brings, um,different experiences to the
table.
First of all, I studiedanthropology, cultural
anthropology.
That's a wonderful tie in,unexpectedly, in design thinking
because of various perspectivesand really acknowledging biases
(05:20):
when you're, um, really workingwith anyone.
It translates in so manywonderful ways I didn't expect.
It's not the reason why I didanthropology.
I just loved studying humans andcultures.
That's just like turned out tobe a nice bonus that I didn't
expect.
I definitely did a lot ofhodgepodge things out of college
as we do when we're trying tofind ourselves.
(05:40):
I was waitressing on the side.
I was doing freelancephotography because that was a
passion of mine since I was ateenager and then um, just, you
know, trying a bunch of thingsessentially.
Russel (05:51):
Had you given up on anthropology at this point?
Marielle (05:53):
I really loved it.
I really love my degree but Iknew that it was not, after I
was like in a certain, um, like,pretty deep in it, I realized
that an anthropologist issomebody who travels to rural
villages and lives there for twoyears.
It's very, um, thorough.
Books about the culture andtheir findings, and while like
(06:13):
young me love the idea of it, Ithink in execution, it just
wasn't like a lifestyle thatwould actually align in reality
for me.
I just chose to like take theconcepts around it and apply it
in other ways.
It also made me like a reallygood writer because I had to
write so much and research somuch.
That's ultimately what led meinto eventually doing public
(06:33):
relations and marketing.
Once I was throwing spaghetti tothe wall and seeing what's
stuck, I just, that was thefirst office job I got.
I stuck with that for quite sometime.
Russel (06:42):
I'm sitting here thinking Indiana Jones, but then
I remember that's archeologist.
Marielle (06:46):
Yes, yes, which is anthropology too.
It's one division ofanthropology.
Russel (06:51):
Okay.
Fun fact, you're the secondanthropologist turned agency
owner I've had as a guest on theshow.
I don't know if that's a morecommon theme then.
Marielle (06:59):
Oh, really?
Russel (06:59):
Yeah, then one might expect.
Omi Diaz Cooper, a long timeago, guest on the show is a, is
an anthropologist.
I can see where it ties in atthe end of the day.
I think of this happens to a lotof folks that maybe kind of have
a more wayward path that feelslike it was, it was not the best
path, but I'm going to make anargument that it actually is the
best path.
I don't know if you've come to,to embrace this yet, but there's
a really good book out therecalled Range and it just talks
(07:21):
about some of the downsideswhere, in our culture, today
especially, it's like, you know,you need to focus exactly what
you're going to do and only dothat at, at this young age.
They actually find that thatleads to burnout and it actually
leads to less success in thelong run because of burnout and
other things.
All that to say, you've, you'vetaken a good path.
Marielle (07:36):
I think, out of college too, I just, I traveled
a lot.
I prioritized traveling a lotand I was, you know, in a
privileged position to be ableto do that.
But as somebody that is in theirthirties now, it just has been,
um, nice to feel like Iaccomplished that or I, like,
checked it off my list.
While it's always a part of me,I think, um, it's not like
something I feel like I missedout on.
(07:57):
I feel like I'm able to continueto like dive into building and
growing the agency and havingthat be my passion over feeling
very disjointed of you know,wanting to do the things that
you want to do for personalreasons before, you know, it's
essentially too late.
It's nice to have had that veryvaried experience from the
beginning, um, before now.
Russel (08:16):
I'm glad.
It sounds like you have come to,you appreciate it.
I imagine that has gotten youwhere to, where you are today.
Yes, you parlayed or got into PRand how did you parlay that
into, what is it?
Eventually being coming andagency owner?
Marielle (08:28):
At that time when I was applying, and I think this
is still true.
I think like, entry level jobsare always like your hardest job
to get right.
They're always looking forpeople with experience for an
internship.
Just like, a lot of networking.
A lot of, um, applying.
I think ultimately networkingwas the, like the ultimate thing
that helped support that first,um, internship.
(08:48):
I just went based off of if thepeople felt, like collaborative
and inclusive and kind, and ifthe clients were interesting and
if the location in the city, youknow, it was convenient.
I just like had this like littlelist, but ultimately I think I
was at the phase where I wouldhave taken pretty much anything.
Just because I was shifting froma very like gypsy lifestyle into
(09:11):
like, I'm ready to have thisoffice career trajectory.
I ended up staying there forfour years and, you know, did
the promotions things and Istarted running accounts and,
um, doing client relations.
There was moments that I, thingsI liked about it.
I did really like thestorytelling component.
But I didn't like that it was anindustry that felt like you're
(09:33):
selling stories and justcrossing your fingers and hoping
that a reporter will write aboutyou and your client.
It felt like so much was out ofyour control for success.
Started to explore other optionsessentially.
I had worked closely with somedesign teams.
There was a full design teamin-house and I eventually talk
to a lot of designers.
(09:54):
Try to understand what theirtrajectory was in a career.
When I, like, put that next to aPR career, I just didn't see the
same growth or opportunity andkind of had this come to Jesus
moment where I was like, okay,so I've told myself that I can't
make any money as an artist andI had that photography
background.
It's a widely cultural, youknow, story that we hear, is
(10:16):
artists can't make money.
I'm forcing myself into a careerthat doesn't feel aligned, but
the trajectory actually lookslike I won't make as much money
over the longterm and the stresswill be a lot higher and the
pressure will be a lot higher.
I'm like, that would only beworth it if this was like the
perfect fit for me and it's not.
That was the ultimate momentthat made me decide, okay, I
(10:38):
want to pivot.
Started researching a lot ofdifferent company, or not
companies, but, educationalapproaches to ramp up my
technical skill set.
Cause even though I was acreative, like throughout my
life, I felt like I was missingsome fundamentals, like software
skills.
Thought about going to gradschool.
I was hearing at the time thatGermany was doing free education
(10:59):
for Americans, and, um, Iactually have a French passport,
so I looked into, like, other,countries that I could do,
because, you know, U.S.
education is just so crazy.
I ultimately decided I didn'twant to take another big pause
on my career.
I did an intensive model where Idid a three month program that
you do on top of your full timejob.
What that meant was at night Iwas just, like, going to this
(11:22):
class and on weekends I wasdoing homework and creating
these projects and that gave meenough of, like, enough tools
under my belt that I eventuallyended up landing some clients
and, um, had some, you know,evening and weekend projects.
Eventually I was like, okay, Ihave too much work right now.
I need to, you know, take a leapof faith and quit this job so
(11:43):
that I can pull fully put myfocus in this direction.
That's how it all started.
Russel (11:47):
Did you ever predict your path would really go down
an entrepreneurial route or, orwere you just thinking, yeah,
I'll, I'll get these skills andthat's going to get me a
different or better position inthe, working for a bigger
company or something along thoselines?
Marielle (11:59):
That's a really good question.
I definitely didn't think Iwould be doing it at this phase
in my life.
I think I thought later in lifeI could see myself doing it.
My dad had a business, not mywhole life, but, when, when I
was, you know, very small and hehas that entrepreneurial spirit,
even though he worked as anexecutive level somewhere.
I think the drive is, like,there for me and always has
(12:21):
been, but I didn't expect itthat soon.
I think I was thinking that Iwould just take on some clients,
build a portfolio and kind ofmake a, a lateral move in a new
career because I was pivotingand I didn't want to just have a
junior position again and workfor years to get up to the level
that I was.
In a different industry.
(12:42):
My strategy was ramp up thatportfolio, get it live, apply
for something at a similarlevel, like a mid range
position.
That just never ended uphappening, so I just kept going.
I've definitely had years whereI wanted to quit or thought
about applying, but I just stuckto it.
Russel (13:00):
For a lot of folks and, and sometimes it can be scary
and sometimes not, but lot oftimes, at least when we kind of
make that leap, there's just alot of excitement from the
autonomy and freedom and justthis new thing we're doing.
But then there is that momentof, like, that, oh crap.
Should I just go get a job?
Do you have a specific memoryof, like, what that first moment
was where you're like, man, whatdid, what the heck did I do
here?
Marielle (13:19):
I never regretted my decision, ever.
I thought it was the right movefor me, but I think anytime,
billables were slow.
I lived in San Francisco, whichis the most expensive city in
the U.S.
so I felt it sometimes.
Russel (13:32):
You mean you didn't just live in a nice big house on
Rainbow Row, like, Full House oranything?
That's not where everybody livesin San Francisco?
Marielle (13:39):
No but I think that's kind of what keeps me here is,
like, you, you still have those,like, low moments, right?
But you just innovate.
You're like, who can I reach outto in, like, an authentic way?
Who can I check in with?
Who can I have coffee with?
Something always circles back.
I like to say that if you canjust hold on, like, a little bit
longer, like, a new opportunityis around the corner.
(14:00):
When I'm, like, stressed orfeeling like things are slow, I
try to listen to my own adviceand just really, hone in on
that.
Russel (14:06):
That's great advice.
You're running an agency.
How long ago was this?
What are we talking?
What year was this?
Marielle (14:10):
Almost eight years ago.
Russel (14:11):
Eight years ago.
Okay.
All right so you've been at thisa while.
How is what you're doing as aservice kind of a core service
from when you started evolved toreally where you're at today?
What are the big pivot moments
Marielle (14:23):
I think when I first started, I definitely operated
as a freelancer, an externalcontractor and extension of
people's teams.
I was highly reliable.
I would wake up at 5 AM for myEast Coast clients and be
working in my tiny corner deskin my San Francisco room, not
apartment cause I didn't livealone.
(14:43):
That entrepreneurial gritdefinitely had to be there in
the DNA.
I definitely experimented withcollaborating pretty early on.
Once I realized that scalingwasn't possible with just me at
my desk for that many hours andtrying to cultivate new
business.
I experimented pretty quicklywith, uh, outside labor
connections.
It wasn't until probably fiveyears ago that I launched it as
(15:07):
Tributary Design Studio andreally rebranded and got really
intentional about being abranding agency because I
learned that there was twoavenues for clients.
There's the kind that just needsyou to be the executor of all of
their content needs, and thenthere's the kind that needs you
to be, like, strategic and thinkthrough the entire visual story
(15:28):
behind the brand.
That's the opportunity where,you know, as designers, we get
to be the most creative.
I felt like that that side ofdesign really tied in my
background the best.
I got to just sort of, like,bring in experience from public
relations, marketing,anthropology, photography,
everything just kind ofsolidified when I realized, oh,
what I really want to do isbranding specifically.
(15:48):
I considered everything.
I considered UX.
I considered web development.
I considered so many things, butbranding is really what stuck
for me.
Russel (15:55):
I love the intentionality behind that of
just, not just kind of gettingsucked into one vacuum and then
just feeling beholden to that,but really saying what are the
exploration of options?
What matches your passion, yourskills, all this experience that
you've built?
And then really creating aservice slash product that
matches all of that.
I can admit that, you know,there's, there's so many, um,
(16:18):
sub genres, I guess you couldsay to the world of marketing,
and we cannot be great at all ofthem.
One of the things that I wouldsay when an agency is, I don't
always think we're great at ourown branding.
But now I appreciate what, whata brand really means and, and,
and what that represents.
For the folks that might be likeme out there, that, maybe put
that idea to the back burner,tell us why brand matters so
(16:38):
much.
Marielle (16:38):
Absolutely.
There's a lot of reasons, but Iwould say that the most, one of
the most important reasons thatbusinesses should consider is it
builds trust with people thatyou're trying to work with.
If you look at any before andafters of people who had no
branding and then invested init, you yourself will have a
(16:59):
feeling that is just muchstronger and you gravitate
towards it for whatever reason.
Even non-designers can just tellwhen something is professionally
made or not.
I think it is make or break intoday's world, branding.
There's so many businesses outthere and it's like one of the
most effective ways to make youstand out from your competitors.
(17:21):
It can build brand loyalty overtime.
Customer retention, alsoemployee loyalty as well.
If you have a really good brandand you invest in your brand,
um, your employees can be proudof where they work.
They will share their eventflyers.
They will wear their merchandisearound the city.
A brand is just like acommunication tool that, if you
(17:42):
don't have it, it's like you'remissing such an opportunity to
connect on any level with yourinternal team, your external
team.
Russel (17:49):
Such a great way to put it, there's just so much noise
out there and people are justconstantly looking for new
signals that they can leverage.
Is this brand, this company, etcetera, if only slightly more
trustworthy than the otheroptions that are out there and
just how important that is tohave at the you know, we need
these passive indicators just asmuch as we need our words and
(18:10):
our kind of more out, outwardspeaking things.
Marielle (18:12):
It justifies pricing too.
If they're looking at multipleoptions, whether it's a service
or a product, you're not goingto be able to charge more unless
you have a really dialed inbrand.
Russel (18:19):
Rewind real quick if you're listening and just replay
that back because I do thinkthat is important for agencies
as well, if we want to command ahigher price point.
I'm not saying it makes logicalsense so you got to throw logic
out the window.
This is dealing with people'semotions.
I don't know if it's like yourhippocampus or whatever that
back part of the brain that justkind of runs on, um, is not the
prefrontal cortex, that they'renot making logical decisions
(18:42):
here.
They're just making quickglances.
Is this trustworthy?
Is this going to be a goodcompany?
And how striking your visualbrand can say that to a
particular type of client.
Marielle (18:51):
Grabbing people's attention is really hard online.
It's impossible.
You get, like, two seconds tomake an impression.
Russel (18:58):
And we know at this point, people don't read anymore
online and they are, they'rereading less and less, so if we
only have two seconds, we canhave the most magnificent words
in the world, but they're onlygoing to read those once we
capture their attention to beginwith.
Marielle (19:10):
And then continue to surprise them over time.
Not just that your homepagelooks good, but you know, all
the print elements you mighthave, it all connects to that,
like, experience that they havewith you.
Russel (19:21):
I don't know why this, why this, this visual came into
my head, but right?
If you're going on a date and,and, um, and the person, like,
checks all the boxes, they lookhandsome, beautiful, whatever
the case, dressed really well.
And then you, like, go get intheir car and it's, and not to
say it's about, like, having anice car.
Marielle (19:35):
Oh my god, that's amazing.
That's an amazing metaphor.
That is so accurate.
Russel (19:39):
Not to be like, well, I don't feel like I'm being like,
um, what's the word, uh,superficial or something like
that.
It's not along those lines, butit's just the brand didn't
match.
That can be the signal ofdistrust sometimes is, wait, I
see this, but doesn't line upfor this.
Marielle (19:52):
It's like who are you presenting to be as versus who
you actually are.
Russel (19:56):
Well, this, this is great because I'm actually going
through some branding effortsand I'm, and I will just say
it's just transformed my thoughtprocess.
Nothing mind blowing in ofitself, but it's just little
nuggets to say, oh, you know,just how I'm, a little button on
my website, that can becompletely different based upon
how I think of my brand,obviously from a visual
perspective, but even just thewords, the words of the button
itself.
(20:17):
Does it match?
Marielle (20:17):
Design should be highly functional.
Function should always be overlooks 100 percent of the time.
Russel (20:24):
There are some folks that, you know, I think do work
more branding.
They understand that.
But again, this is just evenanother realm of the agency
marketing world that, you know,an SEO company might not be
aware of, or, uh, um, you know,other types of marketing
companies aren't brand experts.
Lesson taken to just reallyfocus on that brand.
I want to get into, cause Ireally like where you're going
(20:44):
with this and your business.
I'm curious, one, just kind ofhow you arrived at it, but
you're, you're kind of goingdown this route of, uh, I guess
it sounds like from a basis ofjust innovating, uh, when you
think about your, your productor service.
Tell me why this idea andthought process came to be, and
we'll do a deeper dive into allthe nitty gritty behind it.
Marielle (21:01):
It's kind of tied, um, because we just keep reinventing
our services as we see needsshifting or needs not being met
or just budgets beingconstricted for small business
clients in particular.
There are so many businesses wewant to help, and we try to
always be at an accessible pricepoint.
But accessibility is subjective,right?
(21:23):
Sometimes our price point isshocking to people, and
sometimes people are like, youshould be charging double.
It literally has no rhyme orreason.
We're a small team and we havecosts and we have to stay in
business.
We have to be profitable, sothere's like always this, like,
juggling act of like, how do Icall in clients that are able to
(21:44):
do this range, but not, like,totally leave out people who
might need something evensmaller, um, than, than getting,
like, the, everything from usthat I think that we can really
make the biggest impact on them.
That's where I've sort ofstrategized on doing these more
condensed models that help usstay really efficient so that
(22:06):
the client, you know, iscondensed into like a week or
two week long project.
That's like a brand in a week ora web, website in a week.
This is a really effective wayfor us to still meet their needs
and produce really high qualitywork at, like, a lower price
point than something that'sstretched out for, like, many,
many months and their needs areoften about needing quick
(22:26):
timelines.
So if you want quick timelinesand have a small budget, it just
is the perfect fit for what mostsmall businesses are looking
for.
Even from there, I was, we've,we've had to raise our prices,
you know, because this, um, thiseconomy has been crazy the past
couple of years and because ofthat I noticed, like, less
people were converting when wedid our typical service and so I
(22:48):
was like, how can we condensethis even more?
And now we've been experimentingwith a brand and a set one page
landing page, um, in a, in aweek.
That's for even smallerbusinesses where they're like, I
just need something simple.
I need a really elevated landingpage.
I think that it's going reallywell so far and it helped
convert some clients that werereally sitting on proposals for
(23:09):
too long.
I think that just speaks to,like, needing to keep tweaking
because otherwise you're missingout on an opportunity just
because they're like a smallbusiness or have not a lot of
funding.
It doesn't mean that you can'tbe a profitable company.
You just have to have the volumeof work and be able to, like,
tweak, tweak your services tobest meet their needs so that
you're like an automatic yes.
Russel (23:28):
I love the thought process.
It strikes on so many differentlevels.
I'm trying to think of, like,where to even begin, but, uh,
you know, one, just, right?
We're just in a space.
You just gotta constantly beinnovating.
If you're not, then, then, theworld, the world will pass you
by.
I think a lot of folks realizethat, but the other idea that, I
just love that you're, it soundslike you're starting with a
point of, what is the value,what is the end goal of
(23:48):
ultimately what you're trying toachieve and not being married to
how that happens, right?
That's even where the magic ofthe innovation comes from of,
here's where we need to get to,where can we optimize,
strengthen, or whatever.
And that allows us to meet yourcustomers where they're at and
have a sort of, uh, I don't knowif you think of it this way, but
as you were kind of saying, likea ladder of value or a pyramid
of value where you can getsomeone to the stage where they
(24:10):
can have some of these lowercost entry points, but then can
get them to your higher levelservices.
But it's not just trying tosqueeze what you normally do
down into a, uh, squeeze it intoa, a big package in a small box.
It's making the box fit wherethey're at.
I think that's where a lot offolks, where they kind of start
to, say, I don't want to workwith startups.
And it's because they haven'tbuilt a product that makes sense
to work with startups versus ifwe embrace why we might not like
(24:33):
working with startups, then, andbuild a product that matches
that, then it's not so bad towork with startups.
Have you been able to, you know,kind of take some of that lower
entry point and then parlay itinto, you know, kind of your,
your higher level services, oris that a work in progress?
What does that look like?
Marielle (24:48):
Our, like, longest term clients have started,
because we've been offeringthose shorter brand stints for
maybe four, three or four yearsnow.
Before we were doing that, like,more extensive, like, two month
brand process, that's reallytraditional in the industry.
People who had started there,um, a few years ago have come
(25:08):
back and they're like, now we'rebuilding an app or now we need a
website refresh again.
Then they'll book, like, a wholemonth of our time because they
have the budget, they gotfunding, um, and their business
change.
They're like, um, still fittingin that model, but they need,
like, a lot more from us.
We were able to just use thesame approach, but just give
them a lot more of our time.
(25:29):
That way they're still able to,cause they're still a startup,
even if they're, like, a growingstartup, and then they're able
to get what they need reallyquickly still.
And then it just becomes moreprofitable for us because it's
repeat business.
They have more to attribute toit and we're able to do even
more custom things and taketheir business to the next
level.
That is the general idea is,like, creating services that
(25:50):
support them in the beginning,and ideally they come back to
us, like, every year or twoyears to refresh things because
they need new assets or, theyjust have shifted their business
model a little bit.
I need to rework some things andwe're kind of here at every
stage because we also can, um,do ongoing retainer work for
(26:11):
bigger clients as well that justneed constant content creation.
Even though for branding, ourspecialty focuses on startups.
We have the tools to focus onany like scale of business over
time, essentially.
Russel (26:24):
It's such a great way to think about it, too, because,
you know, I think sometimes, andI get it right?
Is it can be easy in the agencyspace, bigger clients, bigger
budgets.
That's how we get moreprofitable or grow our own
agency.
Not to say that that's not away.
Yes, there's a natural order ofthings where the further you're
removed from pulling the moneyout of the person you're working
with's checking account, thesometimes less painless it can
(26:46):
be, but also bigger companieshave a lot of their own
challenges to work through andwhat they expect and, kind of,
to be always on or justdifferent things along those
lines.
It's not always a grass isgreener, but if you're really
just, no matter what, buildingthe product for that, for
whoever that is, to meet theirspecific needs in a, in a way
that makes sense for yourbusiness, then that's really the
name of the game.
Marielle (27:05):
I think ultimately branding is the most challenging
work out of anything in thedesign space for in a marketing
or business purpose.
It feels like bigger clients arealways, yes, always sought after
in the agency model, and don'tget me wrong, they have their
time and place and benefit.
But in terms of, like, value, Ithink that our small clients are
(27:27):
the ones that get the most valuefrom these small services
because it's the most deepstrategy work.
It's the foundation for theirbusiness, um, and it will
ultimately set them up forsuccess.
We really do nourish thosebecause we believe in that that
model.
Russel (27:42):
You can have impact and, and, and right?
You're not just wrought with allthe, the political obstacles
and, and big companies can'treally pivot extensively.
So many stakeholders.
Nobody wants to lose their jobover a risky decision that might
be the right decision, but, butrisky decisions that don't go as
exactly planned, lead to, youmight not having your job
(28:03):
anymore.
Some folks just don't want to dothat.
As you're going about this, Imean, you know, I definitely see
the path.
I definitely see the value.
I think it's a great path, butwhat are the not so glamorous
parts of it?
Or what's the obstacles orchallenges you're running into
as far as implementing this intoyour business?
Marielle (28:18):
Maybe a common response to get, um, but I think
we do prioritize our visualsreally well.
We are due for a rebrand, butyou know, everybody who looks at
our site would be like, it looksgreat.
They wouldn't know thedifference, but I think just
ongoing marketing efforts sothat more and more people,
because we are a volume basedbusiness model in a sense, like,
(28:38):
constantly it's running on newbusiness as opposed to, like,
repeat business.
Repeat business does happen, butbecause it's a small business
model, it's, like, a slowerscale than a bigger company that
would have many, many, um, needsthroughout the year.
So in order to continue to andremain profitable, have to keep
always calling in a large volumeof clients.
(28:59):
Sometimes that can be harderthan other times and we've been
largely referral based over theyears, um, because I like to
think our work is very highquality and people notice, but
at the end of the day, uh, I'malways working for strategies to
automate some leads.
I'm definitely experimentingwith different models there and
(29:22):
I always am.
I hope in 2025 is when some ofthose things start really
converting.
Our contact forms are just,like, the volume of them are
just coming in a lot more.
Because everything else is setup, the processes are set up,
the talent is set up.
I believe in the team so muchand all we need is just to,
like, automate the bookings andthen we would be smooth sailing.
Russel (29:42):
We could turn the rest of this conversation into a
seven part series and I think wemight still, um, not be able to
fit enough conversation in thereto, or too much conversation to
fit in that, even.
But that's a clear obstacle fora lot of agencies, is breaking
beyond that referral wall.
To your, what you're saying, asfar as the painter's house is
never painted.
Many agencies have setthemselves up, that, you know,
(30:04):
to be a referral based receivingagency and you, you're really
ground zero in just in terms ofwhat your sales process looks
like and, and planting theseseeds as it sounds like some of
the work you're doing.
We're just so used to almostthis instant gratification model
of, uh, getting a referral andjust, being able to have a good
conversation and turning thatinto a sale, but we're not quite
able to do that when we talkabout a lead generation
(30:25):
mechanism along those lines.
Marielle (30:26):
I've tried literally everything.
I've hired business developmentpeople, I've invested a lot in
social media and email marketingand just Google ads.
It's definitely kind of likepulling different levers and
seeing what, what's working typeof thing.
I think this year we did betterthan other years in terms of
people finding us, which isexciting, but I really hope to
(30:47):
just dial that up in the nextyear.
Russel (30:49):
I think it speaks to it, it's, it's the kind of work
that, just no different when youplant a seed, doesn't, you don't
see the, the sprout tomorrow,uh, per se.
Depending on the types of seedsthey are, you might not see them
for a while, and there's rarelythis magic blow up moment where
you can just visually see it allcome together.
But from my perspective andworking with folks, I think, I
think you're on the right pathof, you know, um, building
products that can meet people atdifferent levels, really
(31:11):
focusing on your own house, yourown brand.
That's such a strong foundation.
Then it is the, theengineering-like experimentation
process of finding the differentlevers that get people attracted
into, into your business andthen nurturing them from there
and just that ongoing, ongoingprocess.
It is not easy work by anymeans.
Marielle (31:30):
And I think innovation, similarly to how you
innovate for services, it's likeinnovating how to market your
own business is, it's like asimilar muscle, I think.
Russel (31:38):
It is.
I talked to folks a lot of thisabout as well is, you know, you
can probably ask any agency,right?
How much time have you spentworking on your systems,
processes, ways of doing work onto deliver the work?
And then you turn that questionaround.
How much time have you spentdoing that on your sales side of
your revenue generation side ofthe business?
I imagine it's, like, a 90/10ratio in most cases for most
folks and we can't expectmagnificent results until we've
(32:01):
now put a, as much or similar,maybe more effort onto the, onto
the front side of things to get,you know, this kind of utopia
world that you talk about wherewe just have a lead generation
machine that just works, workslike we all want it to work.
Marielle (32:16):
I also just think it doesn't exist.
I think there are things you cando to really set yourself up for
success and optimize but, like,no matter what, things are going
to ebb and flow.
A business is never hands off.
Russel (32:28):
I think there's a medium.
Marielle (32:29):
Are you going to counter?
I would love to hear youcounter.
Russel (32:31):
Marketing is kind of the first thing that gets cut in the
world when the economy turnedsouth we would have to band
together really well as anindustry to probably fight that
notion, so let's just say that'sa norm we have to deal with.
But really what that means, Ithink in a lot of cases is just,
just the clients or who'sspending their money just gets a
little stingier, so they'relooking for more clarity around,
if I'm going to spend money, isit going to work and be
(32:54):
valuable?
That probably just says, asagencies, we just have to get
really good, if we can get goodbefore the downturn, about
proving our value, showing ourvalue, making that very
unequivocal about what we'regoing to provide businesses when
they write us a check.
That's hard work.
I think everything you're kindof saying, it's hard work.
It's extremely hard work.
Anytime we see something thatlooks like good marketing, we
(33:15):
cannot see all the little leversand widgets and gadgets that
have worked effectively behindthe scenes.
It is extremely hard work.
But it can exist.
Marielle (33:24):
Yes.
I agree with, with time and alot of effort, it can.
Otherwise, what's the point of,of doing all this work?
Russel (33:29):
It makes a good point.
I think generally come across,agency owners are smart people.
Smart to run a business, period,I think those are the smartest
people in the world that've donethings like yourself.
If we go back to that timeratio, if you spend as much time
of it trying to figure that outas you do on the delivery, you
will get there.
It's just, can you get there tospend that much time on it?
I think that's the challengethat a lot of folks end up not
(33:51):
having enough.
Marielle (33:52):
I love that perspective and it feels very
optimistic.
Thank you.
Russel (33:56):
What are you trying to achieve ultimately?
Marielle (33:57):
I really believe in the small business community.
Portland, Oregon is a place thatreally values small businesses
as well, and when you have athriving small business
community, you can like reallyfeel it in, in wherever you
live.
I think of, like, the hugebusinesses of the world, like,
take over our markets and our,like, shops and restaurants.
We lose personality and we losediversity and we lose
(34:21):
creativity.
To me, having a reallysupportive model for small
businesses so that they can staysuccessful and grow and reach
their goals will ensure that weall have access to all that they
have to offer, which essentiallyimproves our communities, right?
Why would you want to just sitin your house and be on Amazon
(34:42):
all day when you could go walkdown the street and support a
local business?
It's important to do both.
I understand the convenience,but, uh, if all those stores
shut down, like, you would loseaccess to a wonderful experience
in your, in your ownneighborhood.
That's why I love doing thiswork for that particular
audience.
Russel (34:58):
I hope you're a billionaire someday.
Marielle (35:00):
Oh, a billionaire for small businesses.
Russel (35:04):
I hope you do everything you just said and you're a
billionaire because of itbecause that notion is, is I
think so important.
I was having this thought theother day of just, where dollars
go is where it flourishes,right?
If we're sending our dollars offto headquarter, Amazon
headquarters, That is what isgoing to flourish.
If we spend dollars with ourneighbor, with our, within our
community, as close to ourcircle or realm as possible.
(35:28):
That, by nature, will flourish.
That is another form ofinvestment is, is handing our
dollars around, that will come,that will actually come back to
us, and in some form or another,if we need to be selfish about
this.
And to that end, it might be alittle more expensive, but, but
it, but it's worth it if we canget that message across.
Marielle (35:44):
Buy less, but higher quality.
Russel (35:46):
And buy local, and everyone, everyone you know will
benefit, uh, in the long run.
Alright, if we can get enoughpeople to listen to this
podcast, episode, then maybewe'll, we'll, we'll change the
world just by this conversation.
Marielle (35:58):
The world with accessible branding.
Russel (36:00):
That too.
First billionaire agency ownerthrough small business
accessible branding.
Marielle (36:05):
I love this.
Russel (36:06):
I can't wait.
Marielle (36:07):
Really about more Tributary.
Russel (36:08):
Yes, there we go.
All right.
One more big question for you,Marielle, is are entrepreneurs
born or are they made?
Marielle (36:15):
I think it could go either way because there's a lot
of people who are born for it,but don't have the environment
that helps them grow into theentrepreneur that they can be
and vice versa.
Sometimes people aren't bornwith it and it scares them, but
with the right resources andtools they can, and support,
(36:37):
they can grow into a reallygreat entrepreneur.
Maybe not like a traditional onethat's, you know, very public
facing, but, maybe a shy onethat has a lot of value in other
ways.
I don't think it's one or theother.
I think it could go reallyeither way.
I would say if I had to choose,I would probably say made
because it's so dependent onenvironment.
(36:57):
And, your life circumstances,really, and your interests, and,
yeah, your journey.
Russel (37:03):
Sounds like 60/40 made maybe, or maybe more.
If people want to know moreabout Tributary Design Studio,
where can they go?
Marielle (37:09):
They can go to our website, which is
tributarydesign.com.
Our Instagram handle istributary.design and you can
reach out to us anytime.
Hello@tributarydesign.com andfollow us.
Say hi.
Love to hear from you.
I think we forgot to talk aboutit, but launched a template shop
(37:31):
this year for brands.
If you are interested in any,like very low stakes branding,
you're welcome to check out thatshop as well which is just
tributarydesign.com/shop Thoseare people who are just not
ready to engage with thedesigners.
That's another tool we've beenexperimenting with this year.
Russel (37:48):
I love it.
Well, if you weren't inspired bythe previous part of the
conversation, go check it out,um, folks, and I know there's
someone listening out here thatcould use a little more focus on
the brand, outward looking brandof their agency.
Start somewhere.
Wonderful conversation,Marielle, appreciate you taking
the time to share, uh, so manywonderful parts of your journey,
the lessons learned and, andlove the work you're doing.
(38:10):
As I said, I hope you will, no.
You will become the first agencybillionaire working with small
businesses, and it's only amatter of time.
Really appreciate you sharingeverything with us today.
Marielle (38:21):
Thank you so much for your time.
It was a really fun chat.
We hope you've enjoyed thisepisode of An Agency Story
podcast where we share realstories of marketing agency
owners from around the world.
Are you interested in being aguest on the show?
Send an email topodcast@performancefaction.com.
(38:43):
An Agency Story is brought toyou by Performance Faction.
Performance Faction offersservices to help agency owners
grow their business to 5 milliondollars and more in revenue.
To learn more, visitperformancefaction.com.
When I would say probably year three of our
(39:07):
agency, um, there was aconversation with my best friend
to have her join the business.
She's based in LA and, uh, shelanded a piece of business for
us.
We had a consultation meeting inperson and leading up to that,
she had some, like, stomach painand everything.
(39:28):
We didn't think much of it, butshe increasingly was in more and
more pain, but sat through theentire meeting and we, um, it
was kind of like a very oldschool meeting because we
printed a lot of collateral toshowcase our work.
I brought in like this binder.
I've never had a meeting likethat other than that time, it
was very formal.
She just rocked the wholemeeting and within a few hours,
(39:52):
she ended up having to go to thehospital because she had
pancreatitis.
Russel (39:56):
Ouch.
Marielle (39:57):
Yeah, I think that same weekend we were supposed to
go to Mexico on vacationtogether and I was, like,
debating if I should wait forher or, or what.
It was just a whole unveiling ofunfortunate circumstances, but
man, is she not, like, thebiggest badass to sit through, a
two hour meeting withpancreatitis and not even
(40:17):
remotely mentioned how much painshe was in, because that is a
very painful experience.
Russel (40:22):
I don't know.
I haven't had that personally,but I can imagine.
What a trooper and just showshow, how, how tough agency
people are.
Marielle (40:31):
I know, right?
Geez.
I wish I could speak to myselfbeing as tough, but I'm not.
Russel (40:36):
I'm sure if you would have had pancreatitis in that
situation, you would have gottenthe job done.
Marielle (40:40):
We'll see.
TBD.
Welcome to An Agency Storypodcast where we share real
stories of marketing agencyowners from around the world.
From the excitement of startingup the first big sale, passion,
doubt, fear, freedom, and theemotional rollercoaster of
growth, hear it all on An AgencyStory podcast.
(00:24):
An Agency Story podcast ishosted by Russel Dubree,
successful agency owner with aneight figure exit turned
business coach.
Enjoy the next agency story.
Russel (00:41):
Most businesses, including agencies, think of
branding as a nice to have.
A logo, a decent website, and apolished look.
But in reality, branding is thesilent force that shapes trust,
credibility, and how yourbusiness stands out in a crowded
market.
And in today's world whereattention is fleeting, getting
it right is more critical thanever.
(01:02):
Welcome to An Agency Storypodcast, I'm your host, Russel.
Today's guest is Mario Balogh,founder of Tributary Design
Studio based in Portland,Oregon.
In this episode, we unpack whybranding is more than just
aesthetics.
It's about building trust atfirst glance and shaping the way
your audience perceives value.
We also dive into the hard workof innovation, rethinking how
(01:23):
businesses meet customers wherethey are and how agencies can
break beyond referrals toattract and engage clients in an
ever changing landscape.
If you're ready to take a freshlook at your brand and what it
says about you, you won't wantto miss this conversation.
Enjoy the story.
Welcome to the show today,everyone.
I have Marielle Balogh withTributary Design Studio with us
(01:43):
here today.
Thank you so much for being onthe show today, Marielle.
Marielle (01:46):
Thank you for having me.
It's lovely to be here.
Russel (01:48):
Lovely to have you, and I got the name right, correct?
How did I do?
Marielle (01:52):
You did.
You pronounced my nameaccurately.
I know it's a tricky one.
It's very European so Iunderstand why you trip up.
Russel (01:58):
I am one to do that so I'm going to give myself like a
9.
5 just cause you can't beperfect.
Marielle (02:02):
It'd be a 10 if you could roll your French Rs, then
I would give you a 10.
Russel (02:06):
I did take a lot of French though.
Marielle (02:07):
Oh, maybe you could.
Russel (02:08):
It's not podcast show worthy.
For, um, pride sake maybe.
Excited to have you on here.
We're in the winter season hereand we were just talking a
little bit before and it seemslike a fun conversation to start
is all things skiing.
Sounds like we both have a skitrip coming up and you're going
to, where, where are you goingskiing?
Marielle (02:23):
Mount Hood Meadows in near Portland, Oregon, where I
live.
I just bought a skii season passmy first time ever this year.
Excited by that.
I hope it's going to be a goodyear.
Russel (02:33):
How many times do you need to go to feel good about
this?
Marielle (02:36):
I feel like 10 at least because lift tickets are
crazy expensive these days.
Russel (02:40):
Okay, 10 times.
I feel ya.
I'm going to Vail next week andtaking my brother who's going
for the first time so that'll beinteresting for him, and then
we'll see if my son gets mekilled by trying to do all the
crazy black runs and and allthat stuff.
Marielle (02:55):
I bet you'll keep up just fine.
Russel (02:56):
I was like, dude, you got, you got about two out of me
and then we're back to theeasier stuff.
Or if you want to be done in twohours and then call it a day,
that's fine too.
Marielle (03:03):
Just go to the resort and have hot cocoa.
Russel (03:05):
Yes, I'm continually learning and getting more into
the apres ski life.
I did not understand itinitially, but now I do.
Marielle (03:11):
Yes.
Russel (03:11):
I'm excited for you, excited for you to get your 10
ski runs in today, and thenexcited for my potential
survival.
Let's get right to the, whatdoes Tributary Design Studio do
and who do you do it for?
Marielle (03:22):
Tributary Design Studio is really founded on the
premise of servicing smallerbusinesses and helping them grow
into much larger businesses, ifthat's their goal, or to just
support them and meet them wherethey're at and where they want
to go, which is, you know,tributaries.
The meaning of a tributary is asmall stream or river going into
a larger stream or river.
Named the business that becauseit's just a really wonderful
(03:44):
metaphor for the work we do withour clients when they really
invest in branding and designlong term, in tandem with other
marketing efforts andinitiatives.
It just really empowers them toput their best foot forward and,
um, speak to who they want to bespeaking to and be communicating
the right message visually iswhat we've predominantly focused
on.
Russel (04:02):
I love a good meaningful name.
That's awesome.
Tell a lot of thought went intothat and unique into itself.
Marielle (04:08):
In Oregon, there's a lot of tributaries, so it gives
a sense of place.
Even though we're not onlyworking with Oregon businesses,
it's a really nice, um, tie into our headquarters,
essentially.
Russel (04:17):
Even more meaning.
There we go.
I'm always a big fan of anybodythat helps out the small
businesses of the world.
That's a, is a very near anddear passion of mine.
All right, well, we were alreadyoff to a great start here.
Before we get all this agencystuff, uh, I'd love to hear what
was young Marielle doing withher life, where was she headed,
and we'll see how well thatcompares to where you're at
today.
Marielle (04:37):
I definitely have a winding road path.
I don't have, like, a superlinear career history, uh, which
I used to be very embarrassedabout when I started my agency.
But, um, over time I've reallystarted to see it as my strength
because I, I'm able to see abusiness from like a lot of
perspectives as opposed to just,um, having gotten like a degree
(04:57):
in graphic design or somethingand just having always done
that.
There's a lot of value in that,but there's also value in
somebody who brings, um,different experiences to the
table.
First of all, I studiedanthropology, cultural
anthropology.
That's a wonderful tie in,unexpectedly, in design thinking
because of various perspectivesand really acknowledging biases
(05:20):
when you're, um, really workingwith anyone.
It translates in so manywonderful ways I didn't expect.
It's not the reason why I didanthropology.
I just loved studying humans andcultures.
That's just like turned out tobe a nice bonus that I didn't
expect.
I definitely did a lot ofhodgepodge things out of college
as we do when we're trying tofind ourselves.
(05:40):
I was waitressing on the side.
I was doing freelancephotography because that was a
passion of mine since I was ateenager and then um, just, you
know, trying a bunch of thingsessentially.
Russel (05:51):
Had you given up on anthropology at this point?
Marielle (05:53):
I really loved it.
I really love my degree but Iknew that it was not, after I
was like in a certain, um, like,pretty deep in it, I realized
that an anthropologist issomebody who travels to rural
villages and lives there for twoyears.
It's very, um, thorough.
Books about the culture andtheir findings, and while like
(06:13):
young me love the idea of it, Ithink in execution, it just
wasn't like a lifestyle thatwould actually align in reality
for me.
I just chose to like take theconcepts around it and apply it
in other ways.
It also made me like a reallygood writer because I had to
write so much and research somuch.
That's ultimately what led meinto eventually doing public
(06:33):
relations and marketing.
Once I was throwing spaghetti tothe wall and seeing what's
stuck, I just, that was thefirst office job I got.
I stuck with that for quite sometime.
Russel (06:42):
I'm sitting here thinking Indiana Jones, but then
I remember that's archeologist.
Marielle (06:46):
Yes, yes, which is anthropology too.
It's one division ofanthropology.
Russel (06:51):
Okay.
Fun fact, you're the secondanthropologist turned agency
owner I've had as a guest on theshow.
I don't know if that's a morecommon theme then.
Marielle (06:59):
Oh, really?
Russel (06:59):
Yeah, then one might expect.
Omi Diaz Cooper, a long timeago, guest on the show is a, is
an anthropologist.
I can see where it ties in atthe end of the day.
I think of this happens to a lotof folks that maybe kind of have
a more wayward path that feelslike it was, it was not the best
path, but I'm going to make anargument that it actually is the
best path.
I don't know if you've come to,to embrace this yet, but there's
a really good book out therecalled Range and it just talks
(07:21):
about some of the downsideswhere, in our culture, today
especially, it's like, you know,you need to focus exactly what
you're going to do and only dothat at, at this young age.
They actually find that thatleads to burnout and it actually
leads to less success in thelong run because of burnout and
other things.
All that to say, you've, you'vetaken a good path.
Marielle (07:36):
I think, out of college too, I just, I traveled
a lot.
I prioritized traveling a lotand I was, you know, in a
privileged position to be ableto do that.
But as somebody that is in theirthirties now, it just has been,
um, nice to feel like Iaccomplished that or I, like,
checked it off my list.
While it's always a part of me,I think, um, it's not like
something I feel like I missedout on.
(07:57):
I feel like I'm able to continueto like dive into building and
growing the agency and havingthat be my passion over feeling
very disjointed of you know,wanting to do the things that
you want to do for personalreasons before, you know, it's
essentially too late.
It's nice to have had that veryvaried experience from the
beginning, um, before now.
Russel (08:16):
I'm glad.
It sounds like you have come to,you appreciate it.
I imagine that has gotten youwhere to, where you are today.
Yes, you parlayed or got into PRand how did you parlay that
into, what is it?
Eventually being coming andagency owner?
Marielle (08:28):
At that time when I was applying, and I think this
is still true.
I think like, entry level jobsare always like your hardest job
to get right.
They're always looking forpeople with experience for an
internship.
Just like, a lot of networking.
A lot of, um, applying.
I think ultimately networkingwas the, like the ultimate thing
that helped support that first,um, internship.
(08:48):
I just went based off of if thepeople felt, like collaborative
and inclusive and kind, and ifthe clients were interesting and
if the location in the city, youknow, it was convenient.
I just like had this like littlelist, but ultimately I think I
was at the phase where I wouldhave taken pretty much anything.
Just because I was shifting froma very like gypsy lifestyle into
(09:11):
like, I'm ready to have thisoffice career trajectory.
I ended up staying there forfour years and, you know, did
the promotions things and Istarted running accounts and,
um, doing client relations.
There was moments that I, thingsI liked about it.
I did really like thestorytelling component.
But I didn't like that it was anindustry that felt like you're
(09:33):
selling stories and justcrossing your fingers and hoping
that a reporter will write aboutyou and your client.
It felt like so much was out ofyour control for success.
Started to explore other optionsessentially.
I had worked closely with somedesign teams.
There was a full design teamin-house and I eventually talk
to a lot of designers.
(09:54):
Try to understand what theirtrajectory was in a career.
When I, like, put that next to aPR career, I just didn't see the
same growth or opportunity andkind of had this come to Jesus
moment where I was like, okay,so I've told myself that I can't
make any money as an artist andI had that photography
background.
It's a widely cultural, youknow, story that we hear, is
(10:16):
artists can't make money.
I'm forcing myself into a careerthat doesn't feel aligned, but
the trajectory actually lookslike I won't make as much money
over the longterm and the stresswill be a lot higher and the
pressure will be a lot higher.
I'm like, that would only beworth it if this was like the
perfect fit for me and it's not.
That was the ultimate momentthat made me decide, okay, I
(10:38):
want to pivot.
Started researching a lot ofdifferent company, or not
companies, but, educationalapproaches to ramp up my
technical skill set.
Cause even though I was acreative, like throughout my
life, I felt like I was missingsome fundamentals, like software
skills.
Thought about going to gradschool.
I was hearing at the time thatGermany was doing free education
(10:59):
for Americans, and, um, Iactually have a French passport,
so I looked into, like, other,countries that I could do,
because, you know, U.S.
education is just so crazy.
I ultimately decided I didn'twant to take another big pause
on my career.
I did an intensive model where Idid a three month program that
you do on top of your full timejob.
What that meant was at night Iwas just, like, going to this
(11:22):
class and on weekends I wasdoing homework and creating
these projects and that gave meenough of, like, enough tools
under my belt that I eventuallyended up landing some clients
and, um, had some, you know,evening and weekend projects.
Eventually I was like, okay, Ihave too much work right now.
I need to, you know, take a leapof faith and quit this job so
(11:43):
that I can pull fully put myfocus in this direction.
That's how it all started.
Russel (11:47):
Did you ever predict your path would really go down
an entrepreneurial route or, orwere you just thinking, yeah,
I'll, I'll get these skills andthat's going to get me a
different or better position inthe, working for a bigger
company or something along thoselines?
Marielle (11:59):
That's a really good question.
I definitely didn't think Iwould be doing it at this phase
in my life.
I think I thought later in lifeI could see myself doing it.
My dad had a business, not mywhole life, but, when, when I
was, you know, very small and hehas that entrepreneurial spirit,
even though he worked as anexecutive level somewhere.
I think the drive is, like,there for me and always has
(12:21):
been, but I didn't expect itthat soon.
I think I was thinking that Iwould just take on some clients,
build a portfolio and kind ofmake a, a lateral move in a new
career because I was pivotingand I didn't want to just have a
junior position again and workfor years to get up to the level
that I was.
In a different industry.
(12:42):
My strategy was ramp up thatportfolio, get it live, apply
for something at a similarlevel, like a mid range
position.
That just never ended uphappening, so I just kept going.
I've definitely had years whereI wanted to quit or thought
about applying, but I just stuckto it.
Russel (13:00):
For a lot of folks and, and sometimes it can be scary
and sometimes not, but lot oftimes, at least when we kind of
make that leap, there's just alot of excitement from the
autonomy and freedom and justthis new thing we're doing.
But then there is that momentof, like, that, oh crap.
Should I just go get a job?
Do you have a specific memoryof, like, what that first moment
was where you're like, man, whatdid, what the heck did I do
here?
Marielle (13:19):
I never regretted my decision, ever.
I thought it was the right movefor me, but I think anytime,
billables were slow.
I lived in San Francisco, whichis the most expensive city in
the U.S.
so I felt it sometimes.
Russel (13:32):
You mean you didn't just live in a nice big house on
Rainbow Row, like, Full House oranything?
That's not where everybody livesin San Francisco?
Marielle (13:39):
No but I think that's kind of what keeps me here is,
like, you, you still have those,like, low moments, right?
But you just innovate.
You're like, who can I reach outto in, like, an authentic way?
Who can I check in with?
Who can I have coffee with?
Something always circles back.
I like to say that if you canjust hold on, like, a little bit
longer, like, a new opportunityis around the corner.
(14:00):
When I'm, like, stressed orfeeling like things are slow, I
try to listen to my own adviceand just really, hone in on
that.
Russel (14:06):
That's great advice.
You're running an agency.
How long ago was this?
What are we talking?
What year was this?
Marielle (14:10):
Almost eight years ago.
Russel (14:11):
Eight years ago.
Okay.
All right so you've been at thisa while.
How is what you're doing as aservice kind of a core service
from when you started evolved toreally where you're at today?
What are the big pivot moments
Marielle (14:23):
I think when I first started, I definitely operated
as a freelancer, an externalcontractor and extension of
people's teams.
I was highly reliable.
I would wake up at 5 AM for myEast Coast clients and be
working in my tiny corner deskin my San Francisco room, not
apartment cause I didn't livealone.
(14:43):
That entrepreneurial gritdefinitely had to be there in
the DNA.
I definitely experimented withcollaborating pretty early on.
Once I realized that scalingwasn't possible with just me at
my desk for that many hours andtrying to cultivate new
business.
I experimented pretty quicklywith, uh, outside labor
connections.
It wasn't until probably fiveyears ago that I launched it as
(15:07):
Tributary Design Studio andreally rebranded and got really
intentional about being abranding agency because I
learned that there was twoavenues for clients.
There's the kind that just needsyou to be the executor of all of
their content needs, and thenthere's the kind that needs you
to be, like, strategic and thinkthrough the entire visual story
(15:28):
behind the brand.
That's the opportunity where,you know, as designers, we get
to be the most creative.
I felt like that that side ofdesign really tied in my
background the best.
I got to just sort of, like,bring in experience from public
relations, marketing,anthropology, photography,
everything just kind ofsolidified when I realized, oh,
what I really want to do isbranding specifically.
(15:48):
I considered everything.
I considered UX.
I considered web development.
I considered so many things, butbranding is really what stuck
for me.
Russel (15:55):
I love the intentionality behind that of
just, not just kind of gettingsucked into one vacuum and then
just feeling beholden to that,but really saying what are the
exploration of options?
What matches your passion, yourskills, all this experience that
you've built?
And then really creating aservice slash product that
matches all of that.
I can admit that, you know,there's, there's so many, um,
(16:18):
sub genres, I guess you couldsay to the world of marketing,
and we cannot be great at all ofthem.
One of the things that I wouldsay when an agency is, I don't
always think we're great at ourown branding.
But now I appreciate what, whata brand really means and, and,
and what that represents.
For the folks that might be likeme out there, that, maybe put
that idea to the back burner,tell us why brand matters so
(16:38):
much.
Marielle (16:38):
Absolutely.
There's a lot of reasons, but Iwould say that the most, one of
the most important reasons thatbusinesses should consider is it
builds trust with people thatyou're trying to work with.
If you look at any before andafters of people who had no
branding and then invested init, you yourself will have a
(16:59):
feeling that is just muchstronger and you gravitate
towards it for whatever reason.
Even non-designers can just tellwhen something is professionally
made or not.
I think it is make or break intoday's world, branding.
There's so many businesses outthere and it's like one of the
most effective ways to make youstand out from your competitors.
(17:21):
It can build brand loyalty overtime.
Customer retention, alsoemployee loyalty as well.
If you have a really good brandand you invest in your brand,
um, your employees can be proudof where they work.
They will share their eventflyers.
They will wear their merchandisearound the city.
A brand is just like acommunication tool that, if you
(17:42):
don't have it, it's like you'remissing such an opportunity to
connect on any level with yourinternal team, your external
team.
Russel (17:49):
Such a great way to put it, there's just so much noise
out there and people are justconstantly looking for new
signals that they can leverage.
Is this brand, this company, etcetera, if only slightly more
trustworthy than the otheroptions that are out there and
just how important that is tohave at the you know, we need
these passive indicators just asmuch as we need our words and
(18:10):
our kind of more out, outwardspeaking things.
Marielle (18:12):
It justifies pricing too.
If they're looking at multipleoptions, whether it's a service
or a product, you're not goingto be able to charge more unless
you have a really dialed inbrand.
Russel (18:19):
Rewind real quick if you're listening and just replay
that back because I do thinkthat is important for agencies
as well, if we want to command ahigher price point.
I'm not saying it makes logicalsense so you got to throw logic
out the window.
This is dealing with people'semotions.
I don't know if it's like yourhippocampus or whatever that
back part of the brain that justkind of runs on, um, is not the
prefrontal cortex, that they'renot making logical decisions
(18:42):
here.
They're just making quickglances.
Is this trustworthy?
Is this going to be a goodcompany?
And how striking your visualbrand can say that to a
particular type of client.
Marielle (18:51):
Grabbing people's attention is really hard online.
It's impossible.
You get, like, two seconds tomake an impression.
Russel (18:58):
And we know at this point, people don't read anymore
online and they are, they'rereading less and less, so if we
only have two seconds, we canhave the most magnificent words
in the world, but they're onlygoing to read those once we
capture their attention to beginwith.
Marielle (19:10):
And then continue to surprise them over time.
Not just that your homepagelooks good, but you know, all
the print elements you mighthave, it all connects to that,
like, experience that they havewith you.
Russel (19:21):
I don't know why this, why this, this visual came into
my head, but right?
If you're going on a date and,and, um, and the person, like,
checks all the boxes, they lookhandsome, beautiful, whatever
the case, dressed really well.
And then you, like, go get intheir car and it's, and not to
say it's about, like, having anice car.
Marielle (19:35):
Oh my god, that's amazing.
That's an amazing metaphor.
That is so accurate.
Russel (19:39):
Not to be like, well, I don't feel like I'm being like,
um, what's the word, uh,superficial or something like
that.
It's not along those lines, butit's just the brand didn't
match.
That can be the signal ofdistrust sometimes is, wait, I
see this, but doesn't line upfor this.
Marielle (19:52):
It's like who are you presenting to be as versus who
you actually are.
Russel (19:56):
Well, this, this is great because I'm actually going
through some branding effortsand I'm, and I will just say
it's just transformed my thoughtprocess.
Nothing mind blowing in ofitself, but it's just little
nuggets to say, oh, you know,just how I'm, a little button on
my website, that can becompletely different based upon
how I think of my brand,obviously from a visual
perspective, but even just thewords, the words of the button
itself.
(20:17):
Does it match?
Marielle (20:17):
Design should be highly functional.
Function should always be overlooks 100 percent of the time.
Russel (20:24):
There are some folks that, you know, I think do work
more branding.
They understand that.
But again, this is just evenanother realm of the agency
marketing world that, you know,an SEO company might not be
aware of, or, uh, um, you know,other types of marketing
companies aren't brand experts.
Lesson taken to just reallyfocus on that brand.
I want to get into, cause Ireally like where you're going
(20:44):
with this and your business.
I'm curious, one, just kind ofhow you arrived at it, but
you're, you're kind of goingdown this route of, uh, I guess
it sounds like from a basis ofjust innovating, uh, when you
think about your, your productor service.
Tell me why this idea andthought process came to be, and
we'll do a deeper dive into allthe nitty gritty behind it.
Marielle (21:01):
It's kind of tied, um, because we just keep reinventing
our services as we see needsshifting or needs not being met
or just budgets beingconstricted for small business
clients in particular.
There are so many businesses wewant to help, and we try to
always be at an accessible pricepoint.
But accessibility is subjective,right?
(21:23):
Sometimes our price point isshocking to people, and
sometimes people are like, youshould be charging double.
It literally has no rhyme orreason.
We're a small team and we havecosts and we have to stay in
business.
We have to be profitable, sothere's like always this, like,
juggling act of like, how do Icall in clients that are able to
(21:44):
do this range, but not, like,totally leave out people who
might need something evensmaller, um, than, than getting,
like, the, everything from usthat I think that we can really
make the biggest impact on them.
That's where I've sort ofstrategized on doing these more
condensed models that help usstay really efficient so that
(22:06):
the client, you know, iscondensed into like a week or
two week long project.
That's like a brand in a week ora web, website in a week.
This is a really effective wayfor us to still meet their needs
and produce really high qualitywork at, like, a lower price
point than something that'sstretched out for, like, many,
many months and their needs areoften about needing quick
(22:26):
timelines.
So if you want quick timelinesand have a small budget, it just
is the perfect fit for what mostsmall businesses are looking
for.
Even from there, I was, we've,we've had to raise our prices,
you know, because this, um, thiseconomy has been crazy the past
couple of years and because ofthat I noticed, like, less
people were converting when wedid our typical service and so I
(22:48):
was like, how can we condensethis even more?
And now we've been experimentingwith a brand and a set one page
landing page, um, in a, in aweek.
That's for even smallerbusinesses where they're like, I
just need something simple.
I need a really elevated landingpage.
I think that it's going reallywell so far and it helped
convert some clients that werereally sitting on proposals for
(23:09):
too long.
I think that just speaks to,like, needing to keep tweaking
because otherwise you're missingout on an opportunity just
because they're like a smallbusiness or have not a lot of
funding.
It doesn't mean that you can'tbe a profitable company.
You just have to have the volumeof work and be able to, like,
tweak, tweak your services tobest meet their needs so that
you're like an automatic yes.
Russel (23:28):
I love the thought process.
It strikes on so many differentlevels.
I'm trying to think of, like,where to even begin, but, uh,
you know, one, just, right?
We're just in a space.
You just gotta constantly beinnovating.
If you're not, then, then, theworld, the world will pass you
by.
I think a lot of folks realizethat, but the other idea that, I
just love that you're, it soundslike you're starting with a
point of, what is the value,what is the end goal of
(23:48):
ultimately what you're trying toachieve and not being married to
how that happens, right?
That's even where the magic ofthe innovation comes from of,
here's where we need to get to,where can we optimize,
strengthen, or whatever.
And that allows us to meet yourcustomers where they're at and
have a sort of, uh, I don't knowif you think of it this way, but
as you were kind of saying, likea ladder of value or a pyramid
of value where you can getsomeone to the stage where they
(24:10):
can have some of these lowercost entry points, but then can
get them to your higher levelservices.
But it's not just trying tosqueeze what you normally do
down into a, uh, squeeze it intoa, a big package in a small box.
It's making the box fit wherethey're at.
I think that's where a lot offolks, where they kind of start
to, say, I don't want to workwith startups.
And it's because they haven'tbuilt a product that makes sense
to work with startups versus ifwe embrace why we might not like
(24:33):
working with startups, then, andbuild a product that matches
that, then it's not so bad towork with startups.
Have you been able to, you know,kind of take some of that lower
entry point and then parlay itinto, you know, kind of your,
your higher level services, oris that a work in progress?
What does that look like?
Marielle (24:48):
Our, like, longest term clients have started,
because we've been offeringthose shorter brand stints for
maybe four, three or four yearsnow.
Before we were doing that, like,more extensive, like, two month
brand process, that's reallytraditional in the industry.
People who had started there,um, a few years ago have come
(25:08):
back and they're like, now we'rebuilding an app or now we need a
website refresh again.
Then they'll book, like, a wholemonth of our time because they
have the budget, they gotfunding, um, and their business
change.
They're like, um, still fittingin that model, but they need,
like, a lot more from us.
We were able to just use thesame approach, but just give
them a lot more of our time.
(25:29):
That way they're still able to,cause they're still a startup,
even if they're, like, a growingstartup, and then they're able
to get what they need reallyquickly still.
And then it just becomes moreprofitable for us because it's
repeat business.
They have more to attribute toit and we're able to do even
more custom things and taketheir business to the next
level.
That is the general idea is,like, creating services that
(25:50):
support them in the beginning,and ideally they come back to
us, like, every year or twoyears to refresh things because
they need new assets or, theyjust have shifted their business
model a little bit.
I need to rework some things andwe're kind of here at every
stage because we also can, um,do ongoing retainer work for
(26:11):
bigger clients as well that justneed constant content creation.
Even though for branding, ourspecialty focuses on startups.
We have the tools to focus onany like scale of business over
time, essentially.
Russel (26:24):
It's such a great way to think about it, too, because,
you know, I think sometimes, andI get it right?
Is it can be easy in the agencyspace, bigger clients, bigger
budgets.
That's how we get moreprofitable or grow our own
agency.
Not to say that that's not away.
Yes, there's a natural order ofthings where the further you're
removed from pulling the moneyout of the person you're working
with's checking account, thesometimes less painless it can
(26:46):
be, but also bigger companieshave a lot of their own
challenges to work through andwhat they expect and, kind of,
to be always on or justdifferent things along those
lines.
It's not always a grass isgreener, but if you're really
just, no matter what, buildingthe product for that, for
whoever that is, to meet theirspecific needs in a, in a way
that makes sense for yourbusiness, then that's really the
name of the game.
Marielle (27:05):
I think ultimately branding is the most challenging
work out of anything in thedesign space for in a marketing
or business purpose.
It feels like bigger clients arealways, yes, always sought after
in the agency model, and don'tget me wrong, they have their
time and place and benefit.
But in terms of, like, value, Ithink that our small clients are
(27:27):
the ones that get the most valuefrom these small services
because it's the most deepstrategy work.
It's the foundation for theirbusiness, um, and it will
ultimately set them up forsuccess.
We really do nourish thosebecause we believe in that that
model.
Russel (27:42):
You can have impact and, and, and right?
You're not just wrought with allthe, the political obstacles
and, and big companies can'treally pivot extensively.
So many stakeholders.
Nobody wants to lose their jobover a risky decision that might
be the right decision, but, butrisky decisions that don't go as
exactly planned, lead to, youmight not having your job
(28:03):
anymore.
Some folks just don't want to dothat.
As you're going about this, Imean, you know, I definitely see
the path.
I definitely see the value.
I think it's a great path, butwhat are the not so glamorous
parts of it?
Or what's the obstacles orchallenges you're running into
as far as implementing this intoyour business?
Marielle (28:18):
Maybe a common response to get, um, but I think
we do prioritize our visualsreally well.
We are due for a rebrand, butyou know, everybody who looks at
our site would be like, it looksgreat.
They wouldn't know thedifference, but I think just
ongoing marketing efforts sothat more and more people,
because we are a volume basedbusiness model in a sense, like,
(28:38):
constantly it's running on newbusiness as opposed to, like,
repeat business.
Repeat business does happen, butbecause it's a small business
model, it's, like, a slowerscale than a bigger company that
would have many, many, um, needsthroughout the year.
So in order to continue to andremain profitable, have to keep
always calling in a large volumeof clients.
(28:59):
Sometimes that can be harderthan other times and we've been
largely referral based over theyears, um, because I like to
think our work is very highquality and people notice, but
at the end of the day, uh, I'malways working for strategies to
automate some leads.
I'm definitely experimentingwith different models there and
(29:22):
I always am.
I hope in 2025 is when some ofthose things start really
converting.
Our contact forms are just,like, the volume of them are
just coming in a lot more.
Because everything else is setup, the processes are set up,
the talent is set up.
I believe in the team so muchand all we need is just to,
like, automate the bookings andthen we would be smooth sailing.
Russel (29:42):
We could turn the rest of this conversation into a
seven part series and I think wemight still, um, not be able to
fit enough conversation in thereto, or too much conversation to
fit in that, even.
But that's a clear obstacle fora lot of agencies, is breaking
beyond that referral wall.
To your, what you're saying, asfar as the painter's house is
never painted.
Many agencies have setthemselves up, that, you know,
(30:04):
to be a referral based receivingagency and you, you're really
ground zero in just in terms ofwhat your sales process looks
like and, and planting theseseeds as it sounds like some of
the work you're doing.
We're just so used to almostthis instant gratification model
of, uh, getting a referral andjust, being able to have a good
conversation and turning thatinto a sale, but we're not quite
able to do that when we talkabout a lead generation
(30:25):
mechanism along those lines.
Marielle (30:26):
I've tried literally everything.
I've hired business developmentpeople, I've invested a lot in
social media and email marketingand just Google ads.
It's definitely kind of likepulling different levers and
seeing what, what's working typeof thing.
I think this year we did betterthan other years in terms of
people finding us, which isexciting, but I really hope to
(30:47):
just dial that up in the nextyear.
Russel (30:49):
I think it speaks to it, it's, it's the kind of work
that, just no different when youplant a seed, doesn't, you don't
see the, the sprout tomorrow,uh, per se.
Depending on the types of seedsthey are, you might not see them
for a while, and there's rarelythis magic blow up moment where
you can just visually see it allcome together.
But from my perspective andworking with folks, I think, I
think you're on the right pathof, you know, um, building
products that can meet people atdifferent levels, really
(31:11):
focusing on your own house, yourown brand.
That's such a strong foundation.
Then it is the, theengineering-like experimentation
process of finding the differentlevers that get people attracted
into, into your business andthen nurturing them from there
and just that ongoing, ongoingprocess.
It is not easy work by anymeans.
Marielle (31:30):
And I think innovation, similarly to how you
innovate for services, it's likeinnovating how to market your
own business is, it's like asimilar muscle, I think.
Russel (31:38):
It is.
I talked to folks a lot of thisabout as well is, you know, you
can probably ask any agency,right?
How much time have you spentworking on your systems,
processes, ways of doing work onto deliver the work?
And then you turn that questionaround.
How much time have you spentdoing that on your sales side of
your revenue generation side ofthe business?
I imagine it's, like, a 90/10ratio in most cases for most
folks and we can't expectmagnificent results until we've
(32:01):
now put a, as much or similar,maybe more effort onto the, onto
the front side of things to get,you know, this kind of utopia
world that you talk about wherewe just have a lead generation
machine that just works, workslike we all want it to work.
Marielle (32:16):
I also just think it doesn't exist.
I think there are things you cando to really set yourself up for
success and optimize but, like,no matter what, things are going
to ebb and flow.
A business is never hands off.
Russel (32:28):
I think there's a medium.
Marielle (32:29):
Are you going to counter?
I would love to hear youcounter.
Russel (32:31):
Marketing is kind of the first thing that gets cut in the
world when the economy turnedsouth we would have to band
together really well as anindustry to probably fight that
notion, so let's just say that'sa norm we have to deal with.
But really what that means, Ithink in a lot of cases is just,
just the clients or who'sspending their money just gets a
little stingier, so they'relooking for more clarity around,
if I'm going to spend money, isit going to work and be
(32:54):
valuable?
That probably just says, asagencies, we just have to get
really good, if we can get goodbefore the downturn, about
proving our value, showing ourvalue, making that very
unequivocal about what we'regoing to provide businesses when
they write us a check.
That's hard work.
I think everything you're kindof saying, it's hard work.
It's extremely hard work.
Anytime we see something thatlooks like good marketing, we
(33:15):
cannot see all the little leversand widgets and gadgets that
have worked effectively behindthe scenes.
It is extremely hard work.
But it can exist.
Marielle (33:24):
Yes.
I agree with, with time and alot of effort, it can.
Otherwise, what's the point of,of doing all this work?
Russel (33:29):
It makes a good point.
I think generally come across,agency owners are smart people.
Smart to run a business, period,I think those are the smartest
people in the world that've donethings like yourself.
If we go back to that timeratio, if you spend as much time
of it trying to figure that outas you do on the delivery, you
will get there.
It's just, can you get there tospend that much time on it?
I think that's the challengethat a lot of folks end up not
(33:51):
having enough.
Marielle (33:52):
I love that perspective and it feels very
optimistic.
Thank you.
Russel (33:56):
What are you trying to achieve ultimately?
Marielle (33:57):
I really believe in the small business community.
Portland, Oregon is a place thatreally values small businesses
as well, and when you have athriving small business
community, you can like reallyfeel it in, in wherever you
live.
I think of, like, the hugebusinesses of the world, like,
take over our markets and our,like, shops and restaurants.
We lose personality and we losediversity and we lose
(34:21):
creativity.
To me, having a reallysupportive model for small
businesses so that they can staysuccessful and grow and reach
their goals will ensure that weall have access to all that they
have to offer, which essentiallyimproves our communities, right?
Why would you want to just sitin your house and be on Amazon
(34:42):
all day when you could go walkdown the street and support a
local business?
It's important to do both.
I understand the convenience,but, uh, if all those stores
shut down, like, you would loseaccess to a wonderful experience
in your, in your ownneighborhood.
That's why I love doing thiswork for that particular
audience.
Russel (34:58):
I hope you're a billionaire someday.
Marielle (35:00):
Oh, a billionaire for small businesses.
Russel (35:04):
I hope you do everything you just said and you're a
billionaire because of itbecause that notion is, is I
think so important.
I was having this thought theother day of just, where dollars
go is where it flourishes,right?
If we're sending our dollars offto headquarter, Amazon
headquarters, That is what isgoing to flourish.
If we spend dollars with ourneighbor, with our, within our
community, as close to ourcircle or realm as possible.
(35:28):
That, by nature, will flourish.
That is another form ofinvestment is, is handing our
dollars around, that will come,that will actually come back to
us, and in some form or another,if we need to be selfish about
this.
And to that end, it might be alittle more expensive, but, but
it, but it's worth it if we canget that message across.
Marielle (35:44):
Buy less, but higher quality.
Russel (35:46):
And buy local, and everyone, everyone you know will
benefit, uh, in the long run.
Alright, if we can get enoughpeople to listen to this
podcast, episode, then maybewe'll, we'll, we'll change the
world just by this conversation.
Marielle (35:58):
The world with accessible branding.
Russel (36:00):
That too.
First billionaire agency ownerthrough small business
accessible branding.
Marielle (36:05):
I love this.
Russel (36:06):
I can't wait.
Marielle (36:07):
Really about more Tributary.
Russel (36:08):
Yes, there we go.
All right.
One more big question for you,Marielle, is are entrepreneurs
born or are they made?
Marielle (36:15):
I think it could go either way because there's a lot
of people who are born for it,but don't have the environment
that helps them grow into theentrepreneur that they can be
and vice versa.
Sometimes people aren't bornwith it and it scares them, but
with the right resources andtools they can, and support,
(36:37):
they can grow into a reallygreat entrepreneur.
Maybe not like a traditional onethat's, you know, very public
facing, but, maybe a shy onethat has a lot of value in other
ways.
I don't think it's one or theother.
I think it could go reallyeither way.
I would say if I had to choose,I would probably say made
because it's so dependent onenvironment.
(36:57):
And, your life circumstances,really, and your interests, and,
yeah, your journey.
Russel (37:03):
Sounds like 60/40 made maybe, or maybe more.
If people want to know moreabout Tributary Design Studio,
where can they go?
Marielle (37:09):
They can go to our website, which is
tributarydesign.com.
Our Instagram handle istributary.design and you can
reach out to us anytime.
Hello@tributarydesign.com andfollow us.
Say hi.
Love to hear from you.
I think we forgot to talk aboutit, but launched a template shop
(37:31):
this year for brands.
If you are interested in any,like very low stakes branding,
you're welcome to check out thatshop as well which is just
tributarydesign.com/shop Thoseare people who are just not
ready to engage with thedesigners.
That's another tool we've beenexperimenting with this year.
Russel (37:48):
I love it.
Well, if you weren't inspired bythe previous part of the
conversation, go check it out,um, folks, and I know there's
someone listening out here thatcould use a little more focus on
the brand, outward looking brandof their agency.
Start somewhere.
Wonderful conversation,Marielle, appreciate you taking
the time to share, uh, so manywonderful parts of your journey,
the lessons learned and, andlove the work you're doing.
(38:10):
As I said, I hope you will, no.
You will become the first agencybillionaire working with small
businesses, and it's only amatter of time.
Really appreciate you sharingeverything with us today.
Marielle (38:21):
Thank you so much for your time.
It was a really fun chat.
We hope you've enjoyed thisepisode of An Agency Story
podcast where we share realstories of marketing agency
owners from around the world.
Are you interested in being aguest on the show?
Send an email topodcast@performancefaction.com.
(38:43):
An Agency Story is brought toyou by Performance Faction.
Performance Faction offersservices to help agency owners
grow their business to 5 milliondollars and more in revenue.
To learn more, visitperformancefaction.com.
When I would say probably year three of our
(39:07):
agency, um, there was aconversation with my best friend
to have her join the business.
She's based in LA and, uh, shelanded a piece of business for
us.
We had a consultation meeting inperson and leading up to that,
she had some, like, stomach painand everything.
(39:28):
We didn't think much of it, butshe increasingly was in more and
more pain, but sat through theentire meeting and we, um, it
was kind of like a very oldschool meeting because we
printed a lot of collateral toshowcase our work.
I brought in like this binder.
I've never had a meeting likethat other than that time, it
was very formal.
She just rocked the wholemeeting and within a few hours,
(39:52):
she ended up having to go to thehospital because she had
pancreatitis.
Russel (39:56):
Ouch.
Marielle (39:57):
Yeah, I think that same weekend we were supposed to
go to Mexico on vacationtogether and I was, like,
debating if I should wait forher or, or what.
It was just a whole unveiling ofunfortunate circumstances, but
man, is she not, like, thebiggest badass to sit through, a
two hour meeting withpancreatitis and not even
(40:17):
remotely mentioned how much painshe was in, because that is a
very painful experience.
Russel (40:22):
I don't know.
I haven't had that personally,but I can imagine.
What a trooper and just showshow, how, how tough agency
people are.
Marielle (40:31):
I know, right?
Geez.
I wish I could speak to myselfbeing as tough, but I'm not.
Russel (40:36):
I'm sure if you would have had pancreatitis in that
situation, you would have gottenthe job done.
Marielle (40:40):
We'll see.
TBD.
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